At Calicut market, Eid shopping a subdued affair

Kozhikode , May 23: In the COVID-19 era, the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr is a subdued one in the commercial area of Kozhikode with shopkeepers awaiting buyers amid COVID-19 restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the virus.

Even as shops at Calicut market opened during the fourth phase of lockdown announced by the Centre which permits the opening of markets and shops, what has changed is the approach of buyers who are not visiting in numbers.

Businesses have come down by 90 per cent and the stocks in the shops are going waste. "We resumed our work four to five days ago but there are only a few buyers in the market. As a result of this, we are left with only 10 per cent business post lockdown," told Saeed, a shop owner in the Calicut market said.

Earlier, the businesses used to be at their peak during the festival period but with COVID-19, it has reduced the number of customers in the market.

"We were expecting business ahead of Eid but we are disappointed with the current situation," added Saeed.

Shop owners are not the only ones who have been impacted due to COVID-19, an auto driver, Mohammad Nazeer told ANI, "We have to wait for an hour or two to earn the simple amount like Rs 25-30."

"There used to be so much rush in the market in the pre-COVID times but now the buyers are travelling with their own vehicles as they fear the spread of coronavirus," he added.

Although the Kerala government is providing food to us we have pending house loans. In such difficult times we had no work for the past two months due to COVID-19. What do we do now?" said Nazeer while he expressed his concern.